Pickering Beck - Water And Carbon

Question 1

Location and background

Answer 1

• tributary of the river Derwent, north Yorkshire
• 68km2 catchment area of the Beck covers many land uses and includes the north york moors
• catchment contains moorland, arable farming and coniferous forest
• flows for 18 miles from source to where it reaches the river Derent

Question 2

The drainage basin

Answer 2

• between 0.1m and 1m high in its normal range
• highest level June 2007 at 1.98m
• very flashy
• between years and within a year there are sudden variations and no notable change
• large flat moorland near the source, large amounts of rainfall flow into the Beck fast when moorland is saturated

Question 3

Causes of flooding

Answer 3

• inappropriate cultivation of arable soils, overstocking and overgrazing of grassland, excessive moorland and forestry drainage, poor river management
• steep catchment
• 4 floods between 1999 and 2007
• 07 flood caused over £7mill damage
• management strategies have been rejected on cost benefit analysis

Question 4

Flood management

Answer 4

• focus is to ‘slow the flow’
• 33% catchment is publicly owned
• 29 Large Woody Debris dams installed
• 187 heather bale check dams where constructed
• new floodplain created allows for 120,000m3 of floodwater to be retained
• plan to plant 50Ha riparian woodland for 30m of river
• ‘no burn zones’, 10m wide beside the streams in moorland environments
• educate framers and homeowners